A 50-year-old Army veteran who was arrested after an eight-hour standoff with federal agents was charged on Wednesday with threatening to kill President Barack Obama. Officials said he planned to ignite a war between Muslims and Christians and "start an apocalypse," and his Facebook page showed that he planned to burn a Koran.
Roman Otto Conaway, 50, was arrested at his home in Fairview Heights, Illinois in the early morning hours Wednesday and was scheduled to appear in federal court on Thursday. During the standoff, Conaway allegedly said a bulky belt he wore and three storage containers on his property were packed with explosives, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Conaway eventually surrendered after officials promised him a mental health evaluation. He could face up to five years in prison if convicted on charges that he made false threats to detonate an explosive device and threatened the president.
It all apparently began on Tuesday after the St. Clair County Circuit Court barred him from contact with his grandchildren, whom he had raised for several years.
After the decision, Conaway allegedly called a local mosque and said that he wanted to begin a war between Christians and Muslims. "I want to start an apocalypse," he said, according to the FBI.
Conaway allegedly said that he thought that Obama had threatened the Rev. Terry Jones and forced him to cancel his planned Koran burning in Florida on Sept. 11, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
At 2:12 p.m. on Tuesday Conaway wrote this message on his Facebook page:
rest at http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/man_wanted_to_start_war_between_christians_and_mus.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TPMmuckraker+%28TPMmuckraker%29
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